Leonard Baskin: Art from the Gift of Alfred Appel, Jr.

Catalog published in 2010 by the Delaware Art Museum. Essay by Alfred Appel, Jr. Edited by Heather Campbell Coyle.

16 pages. Hardback

This book celebrates the collection of Leonard Baskin’s art generously donated to the Delaware Art Museum by Dr. and Mrs. Alfred Appel, Jr. Professor Appel was a literary scholar and an author of wide-ranging books on modern art and jazz. A professor of English at Northwestern University for more than 35 years, he was known particularly for his expertise on Vladimir Nabokov and for his book The Annotated Lolita (1970, updated 1991). Attracted by Baskin’s profound humanism, Professor Appel formed this exemplary collection in the 1960s and early ’70s, and in the process, he befriended the artist.

In the fall of 2010, the Delaware Art Museum held an exhibition highlighting Mr. Appel’s gift. Leonard Baskin: Art from the Gift of Alfred Appel, Jr. featured more than 70 drawings, prints, sculptures, and books. This limited edition book is a companion to the exhibition of the same name. Hand printed and hand bound by Lead Graffiti of Newark, Delaware, as a tribute to Baskin’s interest in hand-made books, only 200 were made. Each book is numbered and has a decorative cover of hand-marbled paper.